Republican healthcare reforms tiptoe timidly toward disaster

Republicans' healthcare reform efforts are taking them down a perilous path. In control of Congress and the White House, they plan to pass a bill with zero Democratic support that pretends to repeal Obamacare and falsely claims to introduce market disciplines.

President Trump on Tuesday told a small group of Republican senators that their bill was too "mean" and needed to be more generous. Republican senators are privately saying there aren't 50 votes to repeal Obamacare regulations that drive up premium costs.

This puts the party and president on course for disaster. If Obamacare's costly regulations are left in place, the bill cannot honestly be described as "repeal" or "reform."

Republicans look ready to rush a bill that was drafted in secret through the Senate using the budget reconciliation process and probably relying on Vice President Mike Pence's tie-breaking vote.

It won't do what's needed to reduce premiums because it will preserve Obamacare's regulations that outlaw cheaper plans. If it were less "mean" and "more generous," as Trump wants — he had no such criticisms of the bill when it passed the House — it also would not cut the deficit. Fewer people would have insurance coverage, and state insurance markets that Obamacare has destabilized will get no relief.